During the clinical portion of the CNA test, you will be asked to show mastery of a variety of different skills. For skills involving patient care, one of the most important things to remember is to respect patient privacy. Knock on the door before entering and shut the door upon leaving a patient's room, and if the patient shares a room with another person, be sure to pull the curtain.
For your safety and that of the patients, always wash your hands before and after personal hygiene activities such as using the restroom or blowing your nose, handling food or performing patient care. Be sure to use soap and warm water and wash from your wrists to your fingernails thoroughly. Although gloves are worn for many procedures, hand washing is important before and after applying gloves to prevent the spread of germs.
CNAs learn many steps for each skill they must perform on the state exam. It is important to stay calm and follow the steps exactly as you learned them. If you become nervous during the test and forget a step, take a deep breath and inform the tester that you would like to restart that skill. Do not panic. If for any reason you are unable to pass the test, it is possible to retest at a later time.
Prepare yourself for the written portion of the CNA test by taking practice tests online or reviewing handouts and notes taken during class. This part of the CNA exam is just as important as the clinical portion, so take your time and read each multiple-choice question carefully. Many questions will have answers that are obviously incorrect, so use the process of elimination to improve the odds of answering correctly.